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A-J reporters went to several local government agencies this week to request public documents. Although they did not lie about who they were, they didn’t volunteer that they were reporters or use the “I’m from the press” line. On the whole, reporters found most cities handled the requests appropriately.

But there is room for improvement.

We showed each of the following reports to Don Richards, who represents the A-J and is widely recognized as an expert on public documents. His comments follow each report.

He also said: "The law does not require documents be produced within '10 days.' The law says public documents should be produced 'promptly' and 'without delay.'[552.221 of Pub. Info. Act].

“ ‘Promptly’ depends on the circumstances. Most public documents are generally readily available and should be produced virtually immediately or within the hour. On the other end, documents that are stored may take several days. If ‘promptly’ under the circumstances will exceed 10 days, the governmental body must notify the requester and specify a time when the documents will be produced. When there is a question about whether documents are public or not, the governmental body has 10 days to request an attorney general opinion,” he said.

Ray Westbrook

I went over to the Lubbock Central Appraisal District, 2109 Ave. Q, to ask for tax rates for property and tax value factors for special inventory. The clerk at the information desk was courteous in providing the information I had asked for and volunteered that teams would be going out in July to work on 2014 values for taxable property. He only asked questions to determine what I wanted — whether it was tax values for special inventory or adopted tax rates for property.

I said I would take both. He didn’t charge for the printouts.

Richards says: “This is the way the law is supposed to work, in my opinion, and the governmental body is to be commended. The requested documents are clearly public documents and were apparently promptly produced with the only questions meant to clarify what information was being requested.”

George Watson

I attempted to get the employment contract between the city of Lubbock and Chief of Police Roger Ellis. I spoke to someone in the city manager’s office. She took my request, disappeared for a minute, and when she came back she said that she would have to get that document from another department and that they have 10 days to respond to the request.

She asked me how I would like to get the information once it is available. I said by email; she checked my email on the form I submitted and told me she would send it when it became available. And I left. The city responded two days later, saying it had no documents responsive to the request.

Richards says: “The responder is incorrect regarding the 10-day response time. The law says public documents are to be produced ‘promptly’ and ‘without delay.’ The 10 days involves the time within which an attorney general's opinion is to be requested if the governmental body decides not to disclose the document. The two days response may indeed be ‘promptly’ if it took that long to determine whether there was indeed a contract, and to obtain a copy of it. If there truly is not a contract for the police chief, which we must presume is accurate without evidence to the contrary, then the final response was proper.”

Walt Nett

I told staff at the city of Ropesville what I was asking about — the final bid totals on repairing City Hall after a storm last summer. I was asked, “Who are you with?” I looked over my shoulder, looked back again and said, “I’m just a private citizen.” They asked my name, and I told them. After all, had it come to handing over the request letter, they’d have it anyway. I explained again what I was looking for and was told, “Oh, you can talk with (the mayor) about that.” At the time, he was in another office, and it sounded as if he was counseling someone on accessing some public assistance resources. So at that point, I had no reason to think he was the mayor.

When he came out, we talked in his office. He explained that when they called for bids, they really weren’t sure what they need to do and were as far along as thinking about a new building. But after doing some asbestos abatement, they found the internal walls were in better shape than they’d expected and opted to do a remodel instead of building something totally from scratch. So they ended up with a sole-source deal. The mayor says the work should be done in about five weeks.

Richards says: “A governmental body can ask the name of the requester, but not the reason the request is being made. To honor the spirit of the request, the amount the city had expended thus far on the remodel should have been provided. Probably, the request should have been amended, once it was learned there were no bids, to obtain all the related billing and/or payments for the remodeling. The ‘information’ belongs to the public, and often times private citizens may not know how to formulate the proper questions.”

Blake Ursch

At Frenship ISD I went to see the director of public relations at the administration building in Wolfforth unannounced. I gave him my name but did not tell him I was a reporter.

I told him I was making an FOI request for a list of Frenship ISD administrators and their salaries. He told me the best way to do that would be to send him an email. I gave him my printout of the letter. He said “excellent” and asked for the best way to send me the information. I told him he could email it to me at the address on the form. He said he’d get that to me, we shook hands and that was that.

Richards says: “Assuming the requested information was provided promptly, the situation appears to comply with Texas law. In today's environment, email response is many times preferred, and the governmental body should be commended for providing the requested information in the manner that most conveniences the requester.”

James Bennett

I visited Idalou City Hall at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, and requested the contracts for City Administrator Suzette Williams, Chief of Police Albert Garcia and Public Works Director Brian Baumann.

The clerk asked me what company I was working for, but I said I was a member of the public requesting the information. She asked me to write down on notebook paper what I wanted and the contracts would be mailed to an address I provided within 10 days. She also asked for a phone number for follow-up questions.

The clerk’s request protected my request under the law. Requests can be oral or in writing. However, protections of the act are not triggered unless the request is made in writing.

Richards says: “Governmental bodies can respond to oral requests for public documents, but they also can require a request be in writing. The clerk also can request clarity on the specific information being requested. So the clerk was within the law. The only error is the perception that governmental bodies have ‘10 days’ to respond. The law specifies public documents be produced promptly.”

Natalie Gross

I arrived at the Texas Tech Police Department a little after 2 p.m. and waited a few minutes while the receptionist found the records clerk. The clerk came out a few minutes later and took my written request without asking questions. A few minutes after that, she came back out and told me the assistant chief would email me the records I was requesting for any and all documents pertaining to the accidental death of Miguel Martinez at the National Ranching Heritage Center on July 22. She said he’s usually quick about responding to things like this.

I was out the door by 2:13.

Richards says: “Because the request involved a tragic incident, the governmental body may need to determine if the documents may be subject to exceptions to disclosure, such as a criminal investigation, or civil litigation. The remark about the normal promptness of a response implies apparent ‘reasonable’ concern this time for the governmental body to determine the status of the documents. So long as the public documents were produced timely, the actions of the department appear to be within the law.”

Nicole Brambila

I went to the Lubbock field office of the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority and requested the water authority’s annual budget, the general manager’s annual salary and a copy of the latest memo distributed to staff. The accounting clerk at the Lubbock field office directed the inquiry to the water authority’s headquarters in Sanford. The general manager promptly returned a phone call and provided the following information:

■ The Canadian River Municipal Water Authority’s annual budget — which includes operation and maintenance, utility costs and debt — is $34,772,567 for the current fiscal year.

■ The general manager’s salary is $164,570.

■ A forwarded March 4 email to staff regarding a lunch party for a retiring employee.

Richards says: “The response appears to properly comply with the law. The request being referred to headquarters is not unusual in that the custodian of public documents (i.e. public information officer) was most probably located at the headquarters.”

Ellysa Gonzalez

I went to two different places looking for candidate campaign filing budget reports. The first was the Shallowater ISD administration office.

I walked in, and a lady behind the desk greeted me. She didn’t identify herself; I didn’t ask her name. I asked her if I could get a copy of the candidate filing budgets for Shallowater. At first she seemed a bit confused and hesitant. I don’t think I explained it correctly the first time. We got it cleared up and she said Shallowater didn’t have any filings. She said two candidates ran for two at-large positions and had no treasurers for their campaigns. She added they ran unopposed anyway so they didn’t file. I thanked her and went on my way.

I then went to Shallowater’s city hall. When I walked in, the lady greeted me and asked how she could help. I asked for candidate filing budget reports. I thought it might be interesting this time because she stopped what she was doing, looked up at me and said, “And you are?” I told her my first and last name; she said “hold on” and walked to another room. She said, “There’s a lady here asking about (turns to me and questions) campaign filing budgets?” I clarify with “candidate campaign filing budgets.” A man and woman walk to the doorway and the woman asks, “For the city?” I told her yes, and she said they didn’t need those. She said everybody who ran went unopposed and the filings weren’t necessary. I said thank you and walked out.

Richards says: “Candidates for public office must respond to requirement of law for reporting campaign contributions and expenditures, regardless of whether candidates run unopposed. The public is entitled to know the contributors and the expenditures of political candidates, even if that number is ‘$0.’ (See ethics.state.tx.us)”

Stevie Douglas

I set out to find how many traffic violations had been issued in 2012 and 2013, the amounts paid and the names of the officers involved.

I started at the most obvious place, the Lubbock Police Department’s record office, but after waiting in line I was directed to the Municipal Court. There, a woman took my request and said she would pass it on to her boss.

I pointed out my contact information on the sheet and left — I have not yet heard back.

I went to Lubbock-Cooper ISD shortly before 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, to request the salary information for Superintendent Pat Henderson and Assistant Superintendent Macy Satterwhite.

An office worker asked what I wanted, and I asked for the salary information. She told me to wait while she went to talk to the superintendent’s secretary. A few minutes later, she returned and asked for my name and what the request pertained to. I told her that I just wanted to get the information and that it is public information.

She replied, “There’s not a reason you’re looking for it?”

I said, “Not in particular.”

She left again for a few minutes and gave me an email for the public information officer. She said I should send her an email asking for this information.

Richards says: “The governmental body is not allowed under the law to ask the motive or reason public information is requested. They are allowed to ask the requester’s name and contact information. The referral to the ‘public information officer’ is appropriate.”

Don Williams

I went to the Lubbock office of the Department of Public Safety with a request for the annual number of moving violations in the Lubbock DPS jurisdiction, going back five years for comparison purposes. An officer carefully read my FOI request and then referred me to the DPS website, saying information would come out of Austin.

So I did not get what I asked for the same day, but the link does appear to provide an avenue to handle such a request.

Richards says: “The DPS is allowed to make the public information available on the Web so long as the requester has reasonable access to the Internet. Again, there is not a ‘10 day’ time frame for a response. The time frame under Texas law is ‘promptly.’ A governmental body, assuming it declines to provide the requested information, has 10 days to ask for an attorney general's opinion.”

In conclusion, Don said:

“The three primary errors or misunderstandings under the Texas Public Information Act among governmental bodies in recent times regard (1) the ‘promptness’ and ‘without delay’ requirement of the law; (2) the governmental body asking ‘why’ the requester needs the information; and (3) the law requires even ‘draft’ minutes, or handwritten notes of minutes, of governmental meeting be provided upon request.

“Governmental bodies cannot refuse to provide the minutes of public meetings simply because they are not yet in ‘final’ form, or are as yet ‘unapproved’ by the body. The Public Information Act is Section 552 of the Texas Government Code. A good layman's guide is available at the Texas State Library website at tsl.texas.gov”

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I am a little curious why you apparently have such a distaste for Walmart.

Certainly they try to get every tax advantage they can. If they did not, stockholders would be upset since they are publicly owned and have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize profits legally.

People last week were talking up Ikea coming to Lubbock (Fat Chance). Can you imagine the tax rebates they would want in order to bring a store to Lubbock?

I am more concerned about the tax breaks the city gives the McDougals who are also employees of the city.

I am growing bored with hearing conservatives rail against minimum wage increases while at the same time stereotyping those employees recieving foodstamps to get by as "freeloaders" or "takers" or "lazy" or "unmotivated". In many cases, it is phony libertarians that do this.

Especially, when they are lobbying for cutting those services. They can't have it both ways. You can't send your employees to get food stamps because you don't pay a living wage and then lobby to cut their lifeline.

88% of those making less than 10 dollars an hour are adults. 44% have atleast some college education. The typical worker that would be effected by a minimum wage increase brings home half of their families earnings.

This Conservative detests Walmart as much as you do. They come into a town, drive away all the local smaller businesses and "mom & pops" that have been a part of the community for decades, but cannot compete with Walmart's undercutting. Soon Walmart is the only place left in that town to buy goods or to find employment. There have been cases where a Walmart subsequently closed, and the town withered and died.

What it really reminds me of ---being a history buff--- is the Feudal System of the Middle Ages. People swore fealty to a feudal lord because he was the only one there to protect them. Then they worked the land for him, gave him half the fruits of their labor, indured his attrocities because there was nowhere else to go, were OWNED by him.

I don't want to be owned by Walmart.

Edited to add: On the minimum wage subject, I'd like to see it linked to and controled by actual realized inflation. That way the purchasing power reflected by the minimum wage would never fall, and we'd not need to adjust it every few years.

I agree. I have seen towns across the State wither up years after Walmart gets there. Much of the time walmart pays very little of what they should in taxes and then everyone else makes up for it with an increase in property taxes.

And I like what you said about the minimum wage. In real terms, today's minimum wage is less than it was in the 1960's.

Walmart continues to dodge taxes with the preferred stock option loophole and then get us to subsidize their poverty wages.

UnAmerican.

I would like to see the AJ live up to their open government and transparency when it comes the elected officials that drive this policy.